ROBERTS, GRIFFITH (1735 - 1808), physician at Dolgelley, antiquary, and collector of manuscripts
Date of birth: 1735
Date of death: 1808
Spouse: Margaret Roberts
Child: William Roberts
Child: Griffith Roberts
Parent: Robert Roberts
Gender: Male
Occupation: physician at Dolgelley, antiquary, and collector of manuscripts
Area of activity: History and Culture; Literature and Writing; Medicine
Author: William Llewelyn Davies
Christened 6 September 1735 in the church of Llanfihangel y Pennant, Caernarfonshire, son of Dr. Robert Roberts (1707 - 1769), Isallt, Dolbenmaen; for the family pedigree, see J. E. Griffith, Pedigrees, 359 - it was a branch of the Cesail Gyfarch family, and produced an exceptionally large number (? thirty) of medical men. He practised at Dolgelley, living for some years in what was later known as ' Hen Dŷ'r Doctor ' (Plas Isa) and now forming part of the Golden Lion hotel. At Dolgelley he had access to the Hengwrt manuscripts (in Welsh and other languages) which, in his day, were still at Hengwrt. Moreover, he himself owned several manuscripts, many of which now form part of the Hengwrt-Peniarth collection in N.L.W.; for particulars, with references also to other Welsh manuscripts, which he owned, see the 'Introduction' to N.L.W. Handlist of Manuscripts, i, xii-xiv. He was, in consequence, looked upon by other persons who wished to see or copy manuscripts in Hengwrt as the natural mediator between them and the owners of the collection; some of these persons also visited him for that purpose and to see his own manuscripts. By his wife, Margaret - (who died 1806), he had two sons - William, who joined the Navy as a surgeon, and Griffith, who succeeded his father in practice at Dolgelley, but only for a few years, for he died in 1815; he, too, collected manuscripts. Griffith Roberts senior was also interested in the Anglesey copper mines and in mining operations in Merioneth. He died 28 December 1808. Fuller details can be obtained from numerous letters in N.L.W. noted in the reference cited above; see also Merioneth Hist. Soc. Jnl., i, 119-21.
Author
- Sir William Llewelyn Davies, (1887 - 1952)
- The two main sources have been enumerated above
- to them add B. B. Thomas, The Old Order based on the diary of Elizabeth Baker (Dolgelley, 1778 - 1786) (Cardiff 1945)
Sources
- Wikidata: Q20804708
Additional Links
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/
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